👜 “Louis VuiTexas” — LVMH’s Made in America fail. Dubai Chocolate’s virality. iExports > iPhones.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Best One Yet Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell | Release Date: April 14, 2025

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Introduction

In the April 14, 2025 episode of The Best One Yet, hosts Jack Crivici-Kramer and Nick Martell delve into three compelling business stories that blend global trade dynamics, viral food trends, and economic policies. This episode, touted as their best yet, offers insightful discussions peppered with humor and notable quotes that illuminate the complexities of modern business landscapes.

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1. LVMH’s Made in America Ambition Falters in Texas

Overview: Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), the world's largest luxury conglomerate, ventured into the American market by opening a handbag factory in Alvarado, Texas, six years ago. Initially celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by then-President Donald Trump, the factory aimed to create 1,000 jobs focused on producing mid-range handbags. However, the venture has since struggled, highlighting underlying issues in the trade war and the challenges of transferring specialized craftsmanship to the U.S.

Key Points:

• Initial Promise vs. Reality:

  • "As part of the new factory, Louis Vuitton pledged 1,000 new jobs to stitch them all up," says Jack (06:08).
  • Six years later, the factory only employs 300 workers, a significant shortfall from the initial promise (06:25).

• Quality Control Issues:

  • A Reuters report labeled the Texas factory as one of LVMH's worst due to high defect rates.
  • "40% of the leather being used at this Texas Louis Vuitton factory was being tossed out because of mistakes," Nick explains (07:07).

• Cultural and Skill Barriers:

  • The factory struggled to produce even the simpler components of luxury handbags, such as pockets on the famous Louis Vuitton opera bag (07:27).
  • Workers with no sewing experience resorted to melting canvas to cover imperfections (07:34).

• Trade War Implications:

  • The failure underscores that "jobs ain't commodities. They can't always be moved from Tulum to Texas," Jack concludes (07:56).
  • The story reveals the difficulty in transferring specialized skills across regions, emphasizing that "Americans have certain skills. And you can’t always just switch to a completely new role in a completely new industry," says Nick (08:21).

Takeaway: LVMH’s Texas factory serves as a stark reminder that high-skilled jobs require more than mere relocation; they demand a workforce with specialized expertise. The episode emphasizes the importance of understanding the human element in global trade and the limitations of viewing jobs as interchangeable commodities.

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2. Dubai Chocolate: A Sweet Taste of Viral Success

Overview: Dubai Chocolate emerges as the hottest food trend of 2025, capturing global attention through a unique blend of Middle Eastern flavors and innovative marketing. Originating from a TikTok post by Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian baker, this confectionery marvel combines chocolate with pistachio cream, tahini, cheese, and kunafa, creating a multi-textured experience that has taken social media by storm.

Key Points:

• Creation and Viral Spread:

  • Sarah Hamouda invented Dubai Chocolate in response to soaring cocoa prices, combining affordable ingredients to create a novel product (10:02).
  • The initial TikTok post garnered an astounding 122 million views, rapidly propelling the confection into viral fame (10:57).

• Product Description:

  • Described as the "Reese's of the Tigris and Euphrates," Dubai Chocolate features milk chocolate on the outside with a crunchy pistachio and tahini-infused interior (10:32).

• Commercial Adoption:

  • Despite its viral popularity, mainstream brands like Shake Shack took 17 months to introduce their own versions, reflecting the slow pace of trend commercialization (12:00).

• Trend Lifecycle Insights:

  • Utilizing insights from TasteWise, an AI food trend tracker, the hosts highlight that it typically takes 12 to 18 months for a viral product to transition from social media trends to supermarket shelves (11:10).
  • The delayed adoption underscores the need for businesses to have dedicated teams to swiftly capitalize on emerging trends.

• Recommendation:

  • "Every business needs a trend team 6," Jack suggests, advocating for specialized units within companies to track and implement viral trends without disrupting core operations (13:12).
  • This approach allows businesses to remain agile and responsive to the fast-paced nature of social media-driven trends.

Takeaway: Dubai Chocolate exemplifies how viral trends can reshape the food industry, but also highlights the challenges brands face in quickly adapting to these trends. The episode underscores the necessity for businesses to establish dedicated teams to monitor and integrate social media phenomena, ensuring they can swiftly respond to consumer demands and maintain market relevance.

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3. President Trump’s Obsession with the Trade Deficit and America’s True Economic Strengths

Overview: President Trump's fixation on the trade deficit has dominated economic discussions, yet this focus overlooks the United States' significant strengths in the global economy. While the U.S. continues to import goods like iPhones, it simultaneously exports vast amounts of information and intellectual property, generating substantial financial returns that aren’t captured in traditional trade deficit calculations.

Key Points:

• Understanding the Trade Deficit:

  • "The trade deficit is a simple formula. It's the difference between what a country exports and what it imports," defines Jack (16:53).
  • Trump perceives the trade deficit as a negative indicator, suggesting that importing more signifies economic loss (16:59).

• Exclusion of Service Exports:

  • The U.S. economy is predominantly service-based (72%), encompassing sectors like entertainment, technology, and finance that generate revenue beyond physical goods (17:18).
  • Examples include Hollywood movies, American music, and cutting-edge software, which contribute significantly to exports but aren’t reflected in the trade deficit figures (17:27 - 18:32).

• Financial Capital Inflows:

  • The episode highlights that the U.S. attracts $2 trillion annually in foreign investments, including investments in the stock market and government bonds (19:25).
  • This financial capital influx offsets the trade deficit, bolstering the U.S. economy's overall strength (19:38).

• Critical Analysis:

  • "By measuring trade in this way, we're focusing only on our weaknesses and ignoring our strengths," Nick critiques the narrow focus on the trade deficit (17:27).
  • The hosts argue that the traditional trade deficit metric fails to account for the U.S.’s dominance in non-physical exports and financial services, providing an incomplete economic picture.

• Socioeconomic Considerations:

  • While acknowledging the strengths, the hosts also touch upon issues like economic inequality, noting that the benefits of the U.S.’s financial and service-based economy are not evenly distributed (20:04).

Takeaway: President Trump's emphasis on the trade deficit presents a skewed view of the American economy by neglecting the substantial value generated through services and financial capital exports. The Best One Yet urges listeners to adopt a more holistic understanding of economic health, recognizing that intangible assets like information and intellectual property play a pivotal role in sustaining and enhancing the United States' global economic standing.

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Additional Highlights

SNL Expansion and Morgan Stanley’s Earnings Boost:

• "Live from London, it's Saturday night because SNL is officially expanding to the UK," announces Nick (21:22).
• Morgan Stanley reported solid earnings, significantly boosted by repayments from Elon Musk following the acquisition and merger of Twitter (now X) with his AI company (21:54).

Stock Market Volatility:

• Despite a volatile week, stocks ended slightly higher, with investors actively buying the dip (22:16).
• The S&P 500 remains 13% below its all-time high, illustrating ongoing market fluctuations (22:25).

Interactive Trivia Segment:

• The hosts engage listeners with a trivia question about a toy inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2015, promising to reveal the answer in the next episode (22:48).

Listener Shoutouts and Community Engagement:

• Celebrations, birthdays, job updates, and listener contributions are acknowledged, fostering a sense of community among "Yetis" (23:35 - 25:19).

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Closing Thoughts

The Best One Yet masterfully intertwines global trade challenges, innovative food trends, and nuanced economic analyses to provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of current business dynamics. Through engaging dialogue and insightful commentary, Jack and Nick illuminate the multifaceted nature of today's economic landscape, offering valuable takeaways for entrepreneurs, business enthusiasts, and everyday listeners alike.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Sometimes you gotta do the greatest hits, Jack." – Nick (00:24)
• "40% of the leather being used at this Texas Louis Vuitton factory was being tossed out because of mistakes." – Nick (07:15)
• "Trend Team 6 handles that month's special TikTok inspired menu item every single month." – Jack (13:19)
• "America is the capital of the world, literally." – Nick (17:27)
• "Jobs ain't commodities. They can't always be moved from Tulum to Texas." – Jack (07:56)

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Conclusion

This episode of The Best One Yet stands out for its in-depth exploration of pivotal business stories, providing listeners with a nuanced perspective on issues ranging from global trade intricacies to the lifecycle of viral food trends. Jack and Nick's ability to dissect complex topics with clarity and wit ensures that both casual listeners and business aficionados find value in their discussions.

Transcript

[Nick]

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, April 14, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a t boy.

[Jack]

The top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[Nick]

All right, Jack, how are the greatest hits this weekend?

[Jack]

How was your idea? I know, but you're doing it too, Nick and Molly. After colonoscopy week, they decided to just stay home and go to all their favorite places. And they called it the greatest hits weekend.

[Nick]

Sometimes you gotta do the greatest hits, Jack. Three stories for today's show. Welcome back. What do we got on the pod?

[Jack]

For our first story, Six years ago, Louis Vuitton opened their first handbag factory in Texas. So, Nick, how's it going?

[Nick]

Well, Louis Vuitton's Texan handbags are falling apart, and it's all a metaphor for the trade war.

[Jack]

For our second story, Dubai Chocolate has become the most viral food of 2025. Even Shake Shack has a version of it.

[Nick]

Dubai Chocolate explains why every company needs a trend team.

[Jack]

A trend team six.

[Nick]

Trend team six.

[Jack]

And our third and final story, the two words that Trump is most obsessed with when it comes to the economy. Trade. Defic.

[Nick]

But while America imports iPhones, we export information.

[Jack]

But yetis before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[Nick]

Whoa. What a fantastic mix of stories, Jack. Love the mix.

[Jack]

Happy tax day eve to all those who celebrate.

[Nick]

FYI, your taxes are due tomorrow.

[Jack]

Now, typically, we celebrate tax day with the boring tradition of filling out 1099 forms.

[Nick]

Honey, I got a W2.

[Jack]

Honey, honey, where's your W2? Is usually how it goes.

[Nick]

That's the question. Yeah, but have you ever considered combining your taxes yetis with Pokemon?

[Jack]

Because we found one accounting firm, Openledger, that invented a Pokemon tax service.

[Nick]

They gamified the tax system with a hunt for the fictional characters.

[Jack]

Now, this startup has raised $3 million in venture capital money.

[Nick]

And then they took advantage of Pokemon's.

[Jack]

Open sourced ip because studies show you're more likely to correctly do your taxes if you're not bored to death.

[Nick]

And if you might catch a Pikachu along the way, well, then you're more motivated as well.

[Jack]

So here's how the Poketax game works. It divides the filing into three components.

[Nick]

You got income, you got deductions, and you got credits.

[Jack]

And you catch Pokemon as you accurately complete each of those three sections.

[Nick]

So to go back to the beginning here, did you submit your W2 form?

[Unknown]

Boom.

[Nick]

You snag a snorlax.

[Jack]

Did you upload your 1099? Boom.

[Nick]

You caught a charmander Jack, what about this interest expense? What am I gonna do with that?

[Jack]

Jigglypuff says that's a write off.

[Nick]

Cha Ching. Gotta file them all so you can catch them all, baby.

[Jack]

If you haven't done your taxes yet, then Japanese anime characters may help you.

[Nick]

But besties, if you have done your taxes already, well then you missed out on a Bulbasaur.

[Jack]

Pikachu. Pika me.

[Nick]

Pika who?

[Jack]

Oh, let's hit our three story.

[Nick]

Jack.

[Unknown]

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet. But the best is the norm. Jack. Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T Boy city on your atlas. If you know, you know. Cause we read to go. We can't wait no more so just start the show, start the show.

[Nick]

First, a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

Yeah, it is. We've told you before about a tradition Jack and I have we call the Budget Brunch.

[Jack]

Once a month we go through all our family spending with our spouse and we turn it into a fun event.

[Nick]

Sometimes it's a fun brunch, sometimes it's a. How much are those pancakes?

[Jack]

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[Nick]

Over a million people already use it and it has over 30,000 five star reviews.

[Jack]

Plus a bunch of their team are Yetis who listen to and love this podcast. So come on.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

This podcast is sponsored by Northwestern Mutual.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

Some companies say they have all the answers, but Northwestern Mutual has better questions.

[Nick]

Yeah, the financial pros, they are going to ask you questions about your financial situation that honestly, you never asked yourself a big one.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

For our first story, Louis Vuitton opened a luxury handbag factory down in Texas. And Jack, how's it going over there, man?

[Jack]

Not well. And that tells us a dirty secret of the trade war that no one is talking about.

[Nick]

Actually, Jack, to tell this story, let's travel back six years ago to the lovely town of Alvarado, Texas, home of.

[Jack]

Cattle, rodeos, and oil.

[Nick]

The kind of place where you're ordering your steak rare. We said rare. No, rare.

[Jack]

I want that filet mignon still beating or you're rare.

[Nick]

It's rare, Jack. Well, this town also became home to a surprise newcomer. And that newcomer was the Louis Vuitton handbag factory.

[Jack]

Because back in 2019, LVMH, the largest luxury company on earth, cut a ribbon with Donald Trump to celebrate their first Texas factory.

[Nick]

And this factory was focused on mid range bags. Like if you own a $500 brown LV branded purse probably made down there.

[Jack]

It might have been made just outside Dallas, not just outside Paris.

[Nick]

And as part of the new factory, Louis Vuitton pledged 1,000 new jobs to stitch them all up.

[Jack]

Texans were gonna go from stitching horse sad to stitching handbags.

[Nick]

But here's the update. Yetis, six years later, we're looking at the numbers and There are only 300 jobs at the factory, not the 1,000 that were promised.

[Jack]

And this factory, I quote, it's one of LVMH's worst, according to reports from Reuters.

[Nick]

Yeah, less Yahoo, a little more. Oh, no. Because here's the news. Yetis, Louis Vuitton just gave an update on this Texas factory. And it actually explains a huge unspoken problem in the trade war.

[Jack]

Pardon our French, but. But one of our worst is not something that Texas is proud about.

[Nick]

Now, LVMH managers did go on the record calling for patience with this young factory.

[Jack]

But off the record, others said that the skilled labor needed for fancy bags just isn't possible in the United States.

[Nick]

I think they said jacket is not possible.

[Jack]

And this isn't the French being arrogant about American workers. They share data to prove their Claim.

[Nick]

Here are the numbers. 40% of the leather being used at this Texas Louis Vuitton factory was being tossed out because of mistakes.

[Jack]

And that's a waste rate. True stat, by the way, that is double as high as other LVMH factories.

[Nick]

We actually could go even deeper. Jack, let's talk about the famous Louis Vuitton opera bag that is notoriously hard to make, but they made at this factory.

[Jack]

Workers in Texas with no sewing experience are being caught melting canvas to hide imperfections in the leather.

[Nick]

You know, Jack, I'm kind of picturing the scene in Derek Zoolander when he goes to the coal mine and he gets the black lung and it's just not working for him over there.

[Jack]

Exactly.

[Nick]

It's kind of the reverse of that. Or as one LV executive put it, it took them years to start making the simple pockets on the bags. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Louis Vuitton?

[Jack]

It's a dirty secret about the trade war. Humans are not commodities.

[Nick]

Yetis we are all for getting more high skilled jobs into the hands of Americans. Jack and I are rooting for this factory. We love the idea of it, but.

[Jack]

Americans have certain skills. And you can't always just switch to a completely new role in a completely new industry.

[Nick]

Like working on a ranch versus working on an oil drill versus working in a luxury handbag factory. Those are all a very different range of skills.

[Jack]

We keep hearing about bringing back jobs to America in general. For certain industries, that can happen quickly because we have trained workers.

[Nick]

But for other industries, a lot of industries, it'll take years, decades to get the workforce ready for those jobs.

[Jack]

It can actually take entire generations for a region to pivot their workers.

[Nick]

Like it starts with parents telling the kids to focus on certain skills in school and then they have to learn them over decades.

[Jack]

That's why products are typically made in manufacturing hubs.

[Nick]

In hubs, yeah.

[Jack]

They focus on one craft or one skill. From kindergarten all the way to corporate.

[Nick]

These hubs of expertise, that's what drives global trade and that's what creates great products.

[Jack]

Louis Vuitton's struggling Texas handbag factory is a visual reminder that jobs are not commodities.

[Nick]

For our second story, the hottest food trend of 2025 is official. It's Dubai chocolate. Brown on the outside, green on the inside.

[Jack]

We'll share how this viral Middle Eastern candy craze went from TikTok post to shake shack.

[Nick]

So yetis, look, we all hate inflation, but a little thing Jack and I like to say to Each other. Sometimes inflation can cause innovation because necessity.

[Jack]

Is the mother of invention.

[Nick]

Like during World War II, when chocolate prices spiked, it became unaffordable. So what did Italians do, Jack?

[Jack]

They mixed in hazelnut, a much more available nut, to lower the price of making chocolate.

[Nick]

And we got Nutella. Well, last year, cocoa prices jumped again, 150% to their highest point since World War II. And what happened, Jack?

[Jack]

Once again, that inflation gave us innovation.

[Nick]

That's because pregnant British Egyptian woman, Sarah Hamouda, a baker, invented a bar that was only one half chocolate.

[Jack]

The other half was pistachio.

[Nick]

Yeah, actually a mix of pistachio cream, tahini, a little bit of cheese and kunafa.

[Jack]

It's called Dubai Chocolate.

[Nick]

Dubai Chocolate, A Middle Eastern chocolate nut combo. Think of it kind of like a Nutella of Arabia. And she was selling it for seven bucks. A bar in Dubai.

[Jack]

I was gonna say Reese's Peanut Butter cup of Arabia, because it's got chocolate on the outside and crunchy goodness on the inside, Jack.

[Nick]

I think you mean it's the Reese's of the Tigris and Euphrates. Cause this thing is crunchy on the inside. It's milk chocolaty on the outside. It's not for the lactose intolerant. Actually, you know what, Jack? You kind of can hear it better than you can taste it or you can see it. Right.

[Jack]

It's one big ASMR experience. That audio is from Sarah's original post introducing Dubai Chocolate to the world on.

[Nick]

TikTok, which went viral with a 122 million views. But here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story.

[Jack]

We learned the timeline of a Trend going from TikTok post to grocery shelf is 12 to 18 months.

[Nick]

That's right. With this chocolate, we have confirmed how long it takes to go viral and end up on a store shelf.

[Jack]

Because TasteWise is an AI food trend tracker that studies the speed of viral dishes.

[Nick]

So the speed of a viral product going from the first post on Instagram to the supermarket shelves where we all end up seeing it, and it takes.

[Jack]

On average 12 to 18 months for.

[Nick]

That to happen, to go from initial creation to final packaged grocery product. And why does it take so long, Jack? Because I gotta say, that is slower than I expected.

[Jack]

I mean, first, the marketing team probably isn't as plugged into TikTok as you might expect.

[Nick]

True. But then they actually have to test the versions, create a prototype, come up with the packaging, get the packaging into the stores, create the supply chain, build up the relationship, start the sales process, the marketing, it takes 12 to 18 months.

[Jack]

So Sarah posted her Dubai chocolate on TikTok in December of 2023.

[Nick]

Well, Jack, that was 17 months ago.

[Jack]

And only now are big brands launching their own versions of Dubai chocolate.

[Nick]

It took 17 months for Aldi Lindt, Shake Shack, even each to bring Dubai Chocolate into the mainstream. And because that trend timeline is valuable information, we whipped up a takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies trying to stay on top of the trends?

[Jack]

Every business needs a trend team 6.

[Nick]

Now yetis the virality of Dubai Chocolate. It's been known for 17 months now.

[Jack]

And yet it took 17 months for shake Shack and others to launch their own version.

[Nick]

From Starbucks to Taco Bell, companies are increasingly turning to TikTok trends to create mainstream products, but dropping a limited time.

[Jack]

Only Dubai Chocolate that can mess with the daily operations of a big food chain.

[Nick]

And that's why Jack and I think big food brands need to dedicate an entire team to to track viral trends. Kind of like the Navy seals of tracking trends.

[Jack]

We call IT trend team 6. They should dedicate a section of the kitchen apart from the usual operations and give them the best of the best. Gen Z young workers like Shake Shack.

[Nick]

They don't want to mess with their daily burger operations. That's their profit puppy. That's where they make money, man.

[Jack]

So Trend Team 6 handles that month's.

[Nick]

Special TikTok inspired menu item every single month. Otherwise, capitalizing on a trend would mean either taking forever to put it into the kitchen or disrupting the flow of the rest of the business.

[Jack]

Given the value of launching culturally relevant products, every business needs a Trend Team 6.

[Nick]

Trend Team 6 reporting for duty. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

The best one yet is sponsored by BetterHelp.

[Nick]

Well, Yetis, how's that New Year's resolution looking? Cause it's almost time for your mid year's resolution. It's pre summer. It's time for a check in. What's going on, Jack?

[Jack]

My New Year's res this year was to end my bad moods quickly.

[Nick]

Oh yeah, get into a bad mood. Happens to us all. And Jack's learning in therapy to figure out what triggers his.

[Jack]

For example, if I do something I think deserves praise, but it's met with critique instead, that's gonna trigger me. But Nick, instead of letting it ruin the whole day, possibly the whole weekend, I'm learning to cope quickly.

[Nick]

There is so much therapy jargon in that sentence. Jack, I know you've been going to therapy and I know what Jack's RVF looks like, and I'm happy to. They are melting away quicker this year.

[Jack]

There you go. Therapy isn't just something that impacts your personal life, it impacts your work performance too.

[Nick]

Well, I happen to be Jack's lawfully wedded work husband after all, so I've seen all of this live.

[Jack]

Yetis Therapy can help you live a better life, full stop. That's why we recommend betterhelp because betterhelp.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

Visit betterhelp.com tboy to get 10% off your first month.

[Nick]

That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com t boy prize Picks how do we know it's spring? Well, partially because of the tulips Jack's been growing on his front lawn, but also because of playoffs. Like happy playoff season baby.

[Jack]

Late April is when both basketball and hockey playoffs begin.

[Nick]

Plus, my tulips are the Rangers not in it. Our sponsor, Prizepix is the fastest and easiest way to play daily fantasy sports for real money.

[Jack]

Just pick more or less on a few player stat lines and your lineup is set in seconds.

[Nick]

Now Jack, I know how you do fantasy sports. You pick by age, right? Like what are you going with here?

[Jack]

I pick emotionally. And Steph Curry is the same age as you and me. He's 37, so I'm picking him to make more than three and a half three pointers tonight.

[Nick]

That's right. Watching basketball is 10 times more exciting when the player has the close marginally same birthday as you.

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[Jack]

That's code T boy to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup.

[Nick]

Prize picks run your game for our third and final story, President Trump has become obsessed with 2 trade deficit. But that ignores what America is best at.

[Jack]

While we import iPhones, we export information and the world pays us $2 trillion a year for it.

[Nick]

Yetis open up the Book Trade War Almanac Day 12 how tariffs are Messing with the Economy Jack and I have been keeping track for you in the tariff trenches.

[Jack]

The top term that Trump has been focused on for the last two weeks, the trade deficit.

[Nick]

The trade deficit, it has basically become President Trump's economic scoreboard. Jack, could you sprinkle on a definition for.

[Jack]

The trade deficit is a simple formula. It's the difference between what a country exports and what it imports.

[Nick]

Now, President Trump thinks that if we import more from others, we are losing.

[Jack]

And if we export more to others, we're winning. That's how he sees the world.

[Nick]

And for the United States, we've actually been negative for decades. We've been running a trade deficit for a long, long time.

[Jack]

And he interprets our trade deficit as us perpetually losing.

[Nick]

This is the context Jack and I wanted to sprinkle on. By measuring trade in this way, we're focusing only on our weaknesses and ignoring our strengths.

[Jack]

Because America is a brains and brands economy. We import iPhones, yes, but we export information.

[Nick]

And therein lies the problem with the trade deficit calculus. It only measures physical things.

[Jack]

Our economy, however, is 72% services, non physical things.

[Nick]

And none of those services are included in Trump's assessment, his calculation of our economy.

[Jack]

Exhibit A, Hollywood. Nick, all but one of the top 25 grossing movies of all time are made in America.

[Nick]

Talk to your buddies over in Belarus and, yeah, they're enjoying the Minions movie for, like, the 50th time.

[Jack]

Get this, 60% of box office revenues from those top 25 movies came from overseas.

[Nick]

But none of that is included in President Trump's trade deficit calculus.

[Jack]

Exhibit B, music. Two thirds of the Spotify Global top 50 right now are American artists.

[Nick]

We're talking made in the USA music. Taylor Swift. She's boosting GDPs wherever she tours.

[Jack]

But none of that counts in Trump's trade deficit calculation.

[Nick]

Jack, it feels like exhibit A, Exhibit B. We got an exhibit C here, don't we?

[Jack]

Tech meta's, social networks, Google's online search, Android and Apple mobile phones all dominate the world with Made in USA software.

[Nick]

If it moved fast and broke a few things, yeah, we exported it. It was software, and it didn't get included in the trade deficit calculus.

[Jack]

America puts movies into Chinese TV sets and music into European speakers, and we're.

[Nick]

Pumping software into the world's smartphones across every single line of longitude.

[Jack]

But since none of that is physical, none of it counts in our trade deficit equation.

[Nick]

So add it all up. Besties and looking at goods without looking at services is kind of an incomplete picture.

[Jack]

And there's actually one More thing that the trade deficit ignores. It's a big one. And it's our takeaway.

[Nick]

Capital T. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies? Who are everyone buying things in America?

[Jack]

America is the capital of the world, literally.

[Nick]

We'll explain Yeti's capital. Capital. It is a fancy word for money. And every year, foreigners invest $2 trillion of that capital, that money into the USA.

[Jack]

Foreign investors invest in American companies. They lend to us, they buy in our stock market and they buy our bonds.

[Nick]

That is why our stock market is more valuable than the rest of world's combined.

[Jack]

I repeat, the stock market in the United States is more valuable than the stock markets of all of the rest of the world.

[Nick]

So what President Trump bemoans about physical goods, we make up for in finance.

[Jack]

Now, we're not defending the status quo. There are plenty of issues with our economy, like inequality. For example, the gains the US has made in capital and services have mostly stayed at the top. They could be better shared across the country.

[Nick]

But to ignore those gains is to ignore the things that the US does best.

[Jack]

The music, the software, the Hollywood, the.

[Nick]

Innovation, the brains and the brands.

[Jack]

America is the capital of the world, literally.

[Nick]

While we import all our iPhones, we export information. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us?

[Jack]

To kick off the week, Louis Vuitton's Texas handbag factory is struggling. And it reveals something key about this trade war.

[Nick]

Jobs ain't commodities. They can't always be moved from Tulum to Texas.

[Jack]

For our second story, it's Dubai chocolate, the viral sweet du jour. But actually it's been trending for 17 months.

[Nick]

And that is why companies like Shake Shack need A trend team 6, a special operations unit dedicated to the trend of the moment.

[Jack]

And our third and final story, Trump's trade deficit focus measures physical things, but it ignores what the US is best at.

[Nick]

We may import iPhones, but we export information.

[Jack]

But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[Nick]

Live from London, it's Saturday night because SNL is officially expanding to the uk.

[Jack]

Lorne Michaels is the executive producer for the same concept in Britain that he's been doing in New York for a long time.

[Nick]

And few know this besties. But SNL actually has expanded to other countries before. Right, Jack?

[Jack]

Snl, Italy, France and Japan all failed. But SNL South Korea has been going great.

[Nick]

Not too shabby. There you go. And congratulations to Morgan Stanley, which announced solid earnings, which were actually boosted though by Elon Musk Three years ago, Morgan.

[Jack]

Stanley lent Elon a bunch of money to acquire Twitter, which of course he renamed to X.

[Nick]

And when Elon merged X with his AI company last month, that Morgan Stanley loan got paid back.

[Jack]

Plus, Morgan Stanley was the investment bank representing both X and Xai in the merger, which is highly unusual to represent both sides.

[Nick]

Yeah, over on Wall street, this is some serious financial drama. So basically, Elon showered Morgan Stanley with fees and repayments, and that helped boost Morgan Stanley earnings a solid 26%.

[Jack]

And finally, stocks actually ended the week up last week in one of the most volatile weeks for the stock market ever.

[Nick]

Although despite rising last week, the S&P 500 is still off 13% from its all time high. Nonetheless, investors bought the dip like a bowl of hummus last week. Now time for the best fact yet. This one, some trivia whipped up by Jack and me.

[Jack]

Trivia? In 2015, this toy was inducted into the National Toy hall of Fame.

[Nick]

It was actually invented by a man who worked for NASA. A rocket scientist. Literally.

[Jack]

But he invented it in the bathroom of his home by accident.

[Nick]

Because, like rockets, this product requires force.

[Jack]

But unlike rockets, this product is safe for children.

[Nick]

Do you know the name of this viral product? Drop a guess in the comments on YouTube or Spotify.

[Jack]

The answer is the next episode of our weekly deep dive show, the Best Idea Yet.

[Nick]

And we'll reveal it tomorrow. Yetis, you look fantastic over there. Jack, for your birthday, do you want a Louis Vuitton or you want a Fitton? Which one am I gonna get you over here? You want Made in America. Made in France? What can I do?

[Jack]

I mean, I'd like Made in America, to be honest. Yeah, okay.

[Nick]

Okay. Yeah, man bag. Made in America. There may be a couple holes in it, okay? But, hey, remember that story we did? That's the explanation.

[Jack]

I want Texas raised leather, baby.

[Nick]

Well, we can get it in your pocketbook, Jack. Besties, remember to tell a friend, hyh Tboy, that is how we grow the show.

[Jack]

Have you had the best one yet?

[Nick]

If you know, you know. And Jack and I will see you, as always, enthusiastically, manana. Hey, Trey, let's play that Dubai chocolate one more time before we wrap. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti E.J. dwyer down in Charlottesville, Virginia, celebrating like a wahoo.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Zachary Thornburg in Wichita, Kansas.

[Nick]

And a shout out to YETI Shelby Howard, who found an even more expensive baby carrier than the one we covered on last week's show. Jack, we covered the. The $4,000 Otter Pop she sent us a $7,400 competitor.

[Jack]

It was made of Unobtainium.

[Nick]

And Emily Harrison in White Plains, New York wants to give us some credit for clearly stating not to choose Duke in the March Madness brackets. So Emily, thank you for the shout.

[Jack]

Out, by the way. Go Gators. My mom was raised in Gainesville, Florida. I can't believe I haven't said Go Gators yet.

[Nick]

I forgot you owe us a chomper too.

[Jack]

Jack.

[Nick]

I just gave them and Dylan Kikano has got a new job after graduation in account taxation over audits. Great timing, baby.

[Jack]

And a big shout out to Claire B. And her dog sky, who are wearing the T Boy hat in the Marina of San Francisco.

[Nick]

Claire, that puppy sky was looking fantastic in the Slammin Santa.

[Jack]

And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T boy.

[Nick]

Celebrate the wins.

[Jack]

This is Jack. Nick owns stock of Shake Shack. We both own stock of Apple and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500. If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Nick]

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Jack]

And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey we want to get to know [e-mail] we know some travelers crave an ocean breeze, others don't want to deal with sand. And oftentimes those two people end up together. Compare properties side by side to find yourself poolside, oceanside and still in a relationship.

[Nick]

Find your perfect somewhere with hotels dot com.